Updates from Down-there

I had a long conversation with the office yesterday (Sat.) and it was a good thing too, because he's feeling a bit overworked and stressed. I think it was a helpful hour on the phone, though, because his spirits seemed to lift by the end of it. This reminds me to ring him more often, over the next 4 months.

Major issues include:

1. Having no help on the public consultation for the airport EIA. What with Ratang (obviously) taking a compassionate break from work for the next week or so, the main man had to handle the whole kgotla thing by himself. This is difficult for him, not speaking Setswana. When these major issues cause a bit of argie-bargie amongst the locals ("will the proposal bring benefits to the community?" "Will there be an increase in pollution/employment/AIDS/anti-social behaviour/services etc. due to the proposal?" "Will we be compensated for our trouble & strife throughout construction phase" and so on) they launch into discussions in Setswana with no warning, and they're off like the horses, not an english word to be heard. The main advice after experiencing this is that when attending these things is: 1) Have an interpreter; 2) Have a fluent motswana there to take notes in setswana & translate later 3) Have someone there who can bring the conversations back to english, diplomatically, without stepping on anyone's toes.

2) Bad news. The Lion Park thing didn't work out. I am obviously dissapointed, but as our friend says, maybe it's just a huge relief, with all this other work on the table at the moment. The client concluded that the Water Park specialist will get their own planting guys to do the landscaping. In my opinion, not very wise. They normally have a very short term view on how to do planting, and may not fully appreciate the local conditions. Anyway!

3) T: "Please, please please please come earlier than January?" J2: "We can't. Don't worry so much. You'll be fine." T: "I'm drowning down here!" J2: "You're not drowning. You'll be just fine. If you need to take a break, take a break." Situation tricky, as he's really trying his best to drum up enough work to keep himself on, when we get there. But:

4) L. (wife of T.) working too much. Woolworth's (her company) pretty much owns her soul at the moment. Apparently there's no time. No time for family, no time for holidays, no time for socialising, no time for personal sanity. Apparently she'll be working over Christmas this year AGAIN. But they pay her well. So: what to do, what to do? Is there any compromise, like working 1/2 time? No. It's all or nothing. She's the manager, and they expect her to be responsible for 100% of everything. Working Sundays is probably the hardest on her, as she's a good church-going girl whose had to give up on their congregation out in the suburbs because she's working every sunday. T still attends there, but L is now going to an english Baptist service somewhere else, on another day or at night or something. Which she likes, but not as much as being able to go to their "own" with her husband on a proper sunday morning. I think if we can keep everyone employed once we get there, she'll just quit and they'll just survive on 1 salary. Probably start popping out babies then, I think. Anything is better than being in Africa for "the lifestyle" and then living a life of stress, unrest, and overworked-ness.

All for now......
Number 2.